Ali Hortaçsu is the Ralph and Mary Otis Isham Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a fellow of the Econometric Society.

His research mainly focused on examining the efficiency of markets. Generally, he uses detailed micro-level data to estimate preference and technology parameters that rationalize individual behaviour. He then uses these estimated parameters to construct efficient benchmarks and assess how far observed market outcomes are from efficiency. These comparisons also motivate policy discussions on how market rules could be altered to improve efficiency.

He has applied these frameworks to many market settings, such as financial markets, energy markets, the Internet, productivity analysis, and a variety of market clearing mechanisms, including auctions. Specifically, in auctions, his pioneering work has helped understand the efficiency of various Treasury Bill auction mechanisms.

He is a Co-Editor of the Handbook of Industrial Organization. He has been a Co-Editor in the Journal of Political Economy, RAND Journal of Economics, International Journal of Industrial Organization, and an Associate Editor in the American Economic Review, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, Journal of Industrial Economics, and a member of the editorial board in the Quantitative Marketing and Economics. He also served as a member of the National Science Foundation Economics panel. Additionally, he was a member of the team that used statistical methods to interrogate the records of ancient merchants found at Kanes near the modern Turkish city of Kayseri to locate the probable location of ancient cities.

Ali was the guest speaker for our annual Esmée Fairbairn Lecture and gave an impressive talk on "Organizational Structure and Pricing: Evidence from a Large U.S. Airline" on 25 Ootober 2022. The audience consisted of university staff, PG/PhD students and the general public.